Amber Heard Photos

Active in her drama department, she appeared in local commercials. She said, "My father persuaded me to take [acting] classes, and my first agent in Austin paid for them. I'd always wanted to be an actress."

Amber Heard attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy until she decided to drop out her junior year in order to pursue a career. She didn't relate to her contemporaries, saying, "I didn't feel one bit of remorse for missing prom, let's just put it that way." At age 17, Amber Heard moved to New York to model, but said, "There's no real talent involved in modeling. Acting has substance." And she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Amber Heard appeared in a variety of television shows, including "There Goes My Life" and "Jack & Bobby." Her film debut was in the hit film "Friday Night Lights," followed by such roles in "North County," playing the younger version of Charlize Theron; "Alpha Dog," with Justin Timberlake; "Never Back Down," and comedy "Pineapple Express."

Amber Heard continued to bounce between films and TV roles, including Showtime's "Californication," the short-lived series "The Playboy Club," the horror film "The Stepfather," "Zombieland" and "Drive Angry."

Amber Heard said of her process in choosing parts, "I don't take parts because they're for a sexy girl. I take the sexy girl parts and try to give them something else and make them a character. I just know, at some point, you have to choose between the two.I would love to see women be able to be powerful, complex, smart, opinionated and taken seriously, even if they are beautiful."

Amber Heard came out in 2010 at GLAAD's 25th anniversary event. She said of her sexuality, ".to say I came out implies I was once in. Let me be straight about that " no pun intended. I never came out from anywhere.It didn't really affect anything in my career. I don't label myself one way or another " I have had successful relationships with men and now a woman. I love who I love; it's the person that matters."

She said of her part in the Hunter S. Thompson novel adaptation "The Rum Diary," "I fought really hard for that role. I committed myself to being this character.and it paid of."

She broke up with her girlfriend, Tasya van Ree, and began dating her "Rum Diary" co-star, Johnny Deep. They later broke up, as some reports say, because Amber Heard did not like being labeled a home wrecker; or as "The Enquirer" suggested, Johnny Depp might have cheated on Amber Heard.